Undergarment



June 26, 1951 J PALEN 2,558,099

UNDERGARMENT 7 Filed June 11, 1948 mug-m INVENTORJ Mary fi'Jfdilt Z BYM JR .4 TTOIPNEYS Patented June 26, 1951 UNDERGARMENT Mary F. J. Palen, Sayre, Pa., assignor to McKay Products Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Maryland Application June 11, 1948, Serial No. 32,372

2 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved undergarment particularly underpants for feminine wear.

It is an object of the invention to provide a smooth and relatively snug-fitting undergarment of the above character which will conform properly to the bod contours and not detract from the appearance of outer garments and which is so designed and arranged that garters may be suspended therefrom for the support of stockings without interfering with the proper fit or arrangernent of the garment.

In carrying out my invention I emplo a minimum number of fabric panels or blanlrs in the manufacture of the garment so as to economize on the cost of production and I so arrange the blanks so that the inherent stretch or resiliency of the fabric will permit the garment to yield or stretch when the wearer bends and will cause the garment to properly fit and conform to the wearer and so that the seams are located at positions which will not interfere with the comfort of the wearer or disturb the appearance of the outer garments.

In the accompanying drawing Fig. 1 is a front view of a garment embodying my invention showing it applied to a wearer;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the garment when not in use;

Fig. 3 is a rear view of the garment; and

Figs. 4 and 5 are detailed sectional views on the lines 44 and 55 respectively of Fig. 1.

My garment is preferably made of a fabric of the type which stretches in one direction and which preferably has substantially no stretch in a direction at right angles thereto. For this purpose a knit fabric, or a fabric having elastic yarns running in one direction, may be employed. Thus, a knit fabric has stretch transversel of the wales and has substantially no stretch longitudinally of the wales.

The main body of the garment has a body encircling portion with leg openings at the bottom and consists primarily of two panels In and ll. The panel lll stretches in a horizontal direction and is located at the center of the front of the garment and the panel l2 stretches in a vertical direction and extends across the rear of the garment around the sides and substantially into the front thereof. The panels it and l l are connected together at their lateral edges and because of their size and arrangement the seams i2 and I3 are disposed entirely at the front of the garment at the two sides of the center thereof and will not interfere with the comfort of the wearer and will not appear or protrude through the outer garments as they would if located at the sides or towards the rear of the garment.

The panels I!) and II extend from the waist portion to the leg openings. At the waist portion the garment is provided with an elastic waist band M to embrace the waist of the wearer and the panel I I, which does not stretch horizontally, is preferably shirred about the waist band to permit transverse stretching or expansion of the garment at that point. The lower portion of the panels are cut to conform with the leg contours and are connected by a crotch piece which may be integral with one of the panels or separately formed as shown. In the illustrated embodiments the center of the front panel it is notched as indicated at l5 and the center of the rear panel II is provided with an arcuate cutout as indicated at [5 and the crotch panel I7 is connected between the front and rear panels at these points. The crotch panel ii is made of similar material to the panels It and ii and is preferably arranged so that the stretch thereof is in a longitudinal direction as in panel I l The front and rear panels and crotch ll' are arranged as shown to provide the leg openings l8. Around the leg openings I preferably provide elastic or resilient fabric bands [9 which are applied around the lower edge to the inner surface thereof as shown most clearly in Figs. 4 and 5 by lines of stitching N. The lower edges of the panels l0 and ll are preferably folded up inside the elastic band H? with the result that the band not only causes the leg opening to conform to and engage the leg but also serves as a binding strip. Garter supporting straps 2i also are preferably made of elastic material and may be arranged in overlap-ping loop arrangement with their two ends secured between the elastic band l9 and the inturned lower edge of the garment panels as shown most clearly in Fig. 5. Garters may be supported from the loops 2| in the usual manner. As in the case of the waist band the panel H, which has substantially no horizontal stretch, is shirred about the leg bands It so as to permit the expansion of the leg openings when the garment is worn.

The panels, waist band and leg bands are so arranged that the garment fits the wearer relatively snugly. The waist band and the front panel l0 permit the garment to expand laterally or horizontally when worn and causes it to smoothly and snugly fit the wearer. The vertical stretch of panel Ii and crotch panel i'l permits the garment to conform with bodily contours and to stretch and yield without disarrangement when the wearer bends or sits down. The fact that the panel ll extends around the sides of the wearer to the front also causes the garment to properly conform to the hips of the wearer. Since seams I2 and 13 are located entirely at the front of the garment at the two sides of the center thereof, they do not interfere with the comfort of the wearer, and they will not appear or protrude through outer garments.

I claim:

1. An undergarment for feminine wear includ-' ing in combination an elastic waist band, a body encircling portion secured to the waist band adjacent its upper end and formed with elastic leg openings adjacent its lower end, a front panel in said body encircling portion having elastic stretch and a first vertical edge and a second vertical edge extendible vertically on the body or" the wearer, a rear panel of unitary construction having an elastic stretch in one direction and substantially no stretch in a direction at right angles thereto extending completely around said undergarment from said first vertical edge to said second vertical edge of said front panel, a crotch panel having an elastic stretch joining said front and rear panels at the lower edge of said undergarment extendible between the legs of the wearer transversely of the body, an inverted V-shaped seam joining said front ends of said crotch panel to said front panel, an inverted arcuate seam having a principal dimension lateral to the undergarment joining said crotch panel to said rear panel, an apex of said inverted V-shaped crotch scam in said front panel positionable on the wearer in front of the pubic arch, transversely extending substantially vertical secticns of said crotch panel each peripheral to one of said leg openings and adjacent said front panel, a lateral fold at the rear of said crotch panel adjacent said lateral seam, a pair of separated segments of the lower portion of said front panel formed by said V-shaped seam each extendible over the front section of the upper thigh of one of the legs of the wearer, garter tabs attached to the lower edge of said separated segments at the front of the leg of the wearer and scams joining the lateral edges of said front and rear panels positioned at the front of said undergarment, the lower end of said seams adjoining said separated segments whereby said rear panel, said separated segments, said transversely extending substantially vertical crotch sections and the ends of said transverse crotch fold define said leg openings.

2. A garment as set forth in claim 1 in which a crotch portion is connected between the two panels between the leg openings of the body encircling portion, said crotch portion being stretchable in a longitudinal direction and being substantially non-stretchable in a lateral direction.

MARY F. J. PALEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,929,363 Long Oct. 3, 1933 2,130,906 Scherfer Sept, 20, 1938 2,354,669 Donaldson Aug. 1, 1944 2,435,945 Redmond Feb. 10, 1948 2,465,913 Murdock Mar. 29, 1949 

